November 2018

  • decorative imageFrom ideas to action: Supporting clinician researchers
    From kidney transplantation to stigma reduction, the Academic Medical Organization of Southwestern Ontario (AMOSO) recognizes the value of physician involvement in research. The organization supports a start-up funding program called the Opportunities Fund to facilitate research success.

  • decorative imageBehind the door: London Regional Genomics Centre
    Working with hundreds of scientists from around the world, the team at the London Regional Genomics Centre completes thousands of genetic tests and analyses each year. The Centre is based at Robarts Research Institute.

  • decorative imageThe ups and downs of early career research
    Early career researchers bring fresh approaches, enthusiasm and new expertise to the research environment. With that in mind, there has a push in recent years to do more to encourage and accommodate those who are new to academia.

  • decorative imageCanada Research Chair in Computational Neuroimaging
    Ali Khan, PhD, was named the Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Computational Neuroimaging. "The research proposed for this CRC will develop imaging and image analytics for quantifying structure in the brain, and will also address translation to the clinic through evaluation in patients with epilepsy," he said.

  • decorative imageRapid test for E.coli developed at Robarts Research Institute hits the market
    The goal is to identify E. coli in your food before it ever leaves the processing plant. A new rapid testing kit developed by Dr. Michael Rieder has been translated for commercial use and is now making its way to food processing plants across North America.

  • decorative imageExploring the potential for connexin therapeutics
    “It is truly an intriguing time for the field as connexin biology has become ‘front and centre’ when considering many disease processes,” said Dale Laird, PhD. He recently co-authored an article in Nature Reviews Drug Discovery discussing the potential for therapeutics to target connexins in disease.

  • decorative imageDr. Jorge Burneo appointed as the Jack Cowin Chair in Epilepsy Research
    Inspired by their granddaughter’s experience living with epilepsy, Western Chancellor Jack Cowin and his wife, Sharon Cowin, have donated $2.5-million to epilepsy research at the University, establishing the Jack Cowin Chair in Epilepsy Research. Dr. Jorge Burneo is the inaugural chairholder.

  • decorative imageThe science behind true crime
    "One of the things we want people to get out of it is the science translation," Mind on Crime podcast creators and PhD Candidates Kathleen Lyons and Erin Schumlich spoke to CBC London Morning about the idea behind their science-based true crime podcast.

  • decorative imageThe value of communication in science and technology
    Marlys Koschinsky, PhD, Scientific and Executive Director at Robarts Research Institute, believes that science communication is a critical part of training the next generation. "It takes practice to provide a cohesive narrative about research in a way that tells a story."

  • decorative imageBlog: We made a PhD, but what is a PhD good for?
    “Research labs don’t just generate new science; we also produce new scientists.” Steven Kerfoot, PhD, writes about a career milestone for one of his graduate trainees, Rajiv Jain - a newly minted PhD - and discusses how PhD training can be an entry point to many careers.

  • decorative imageTrainees bring home top prize in case competition
    How might artificial intelligence help to categorize the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to opinions online? That was the question that earned three graduate trainees – Megha Verma, Kartik Pradeepan and Fan Liu – the top prize at the Thales Student Innovation Championship.

  • decorative imageCollaborative Research Seed Grants - Apply by January 18
    The Collaborative Research Seed Grants (CRSG) program provides seed funding for the formation and development of new interdisciplinary collaborative research teams. The intent is to promote new collaborations that build on different scientific and scholarly backgrounds.

  • decorative imageJoin Timothy Caulfield at LHRD 2019 for insights on science communication
    He’s debunked countless miracle cures and health myths perpetuated by celebrities and popular culture, and now he’s coming to London Health Research Day to share his insights with you. Timothy Caulfield, host of the Netflix series "A User’s Guide to Cheating Death" and author of "Is Gwenyth Paltrow Wrong About Everything?", will engage participants on the importance of science communication in today’s world. April 30, 2019.

  • decorative imagePollen DNA provides potential new window for forensic information
    Bogumil Karas, PhD, is using synthetic biology techniques in order to develop a method to efficiently capture DNA from pollen grains, providing a fingerprint to pinpoint exactly where the pollen came from. In this way, it can be used as a forensic tool to link a suspect to a crime scene, for example.

  • decorative imageResearchers uncover gene that regulates fat accumulation and obesity
    A new study led by Silvia Penuela, PhD, shows that regardless of diet, a protein called Pannexin 1 (Panx1) significantly regulates the accumulation of fat in mice.

  • Celebrating your recent achievements
    Congratulations to Robert Hegele, Stanley Dunn, Asher Mendelson, Jorge Burneo, Vipin Bhayana, the three recipients of the Summer Research Training Program awards, as well as many others, on your recent accomplishments.

  • Beyond the bench
    From research events to Halloween festivities, take a look at what your colleagues have been up to this fall via Twitter. Tweets from Marco Prado, Paula Foster, Patrick Lajoie, Dan Hardy, Sarah McLean and more.

  • Featured publications
    Featured publications covering topics ranging from access to intensive care to implicit bias. Authors include Silvia Penuela, Javeed Sukhera, Claudio Martin, Kelly Anderson and more.